Not very heroic
She entered the dojo with firm misgivings. The portal released her as planned. It felt odd not to be in a warfame, not to be armed. The Tenno now known as Cathi had done a lot of things in her life. Some good, some bad, some indifferent. She had tried to be a dutiful Tenno but then...
She forced her mind to focus on the now instead of the past. Her past was dead and gone along with the evil woman who had once held her reins. She knew she would have difficulty, just the lack of dreams was telling on her already. But for now? She was...
"Cathi!" A totally unexpected voice had the Tenno freezing in place just as a weight thumped into her, enveloping her tight. She squashed her instinctive defensive reaction as she realized that it was Mishka, Healer Iriana's daughter. Mishka was crying! "We thought you were dead."
"I was." Cathi said slowly, not daring to move as she beheld two warframes scrutinizing her from the other side of the portal chamber. "Mishka... I need to report."
"It wasn't your fault!" Mishka said firmly as she released the Tenno, but held onto Cathi's hand. Cathi wasn't sure what to do, so she let the girl cling. She had dealt with kids before, but it had been a long time, her memories were fuzzy and she was in a completely different situation.
"Fault doesn't enter into it, Mishka." Cathi said softly. "I did horrible things. These are matters of record."
"You were not in control of yourself!" Mishka protested. "They explained after you and Jesse vanished. Everyone was upset." She gulped and Cathi nodded.
"With reason." Cathi agreed. "Mishka, please?" She begged. She glanced appealingly at the two warframes, a white Rhino and a blue and white Trinity. Both shrugged. "I need to move on. It won't be easy. But I refuse to let the one who hurt me and so many others win." She went still as Mishka smiled warmly. The Rhino gave a short, sharp nod and vanished. "What?"
"We had to see for ourselves." The Trinity said with a smile in her voice. "You came recommended, but we had to see."
"Who would recommend me?" Cathi was reeling as Mishka held her hand gently. Then the Tenno groaned as realization dawned. "Jesse."
Cathi was on two minds about Jesse. First was awe. Jesse was incredibly smart and powerful. The Cyberlancer was young, but no one in their right mind called her weak or indecisive. The second was exasperation. The girl just would not quit trying to get Cathi to lighten up. At least Jesse was safe now, ensconced as she was in the single most secure place in the solar system and surrounded by guards even without Draco, her personal guard.
"Jesse." The Trinity agreed with a small laugh. "I am Alicia, clan medic."
"Cathi." The former renegade replied formally. "But you knew that. I am ready to get started."
"With?" Alicia asked.
"My penance." Cathi half stated, half asked.
"Sister Cathi, Mishka is right." Alicia said with a shrug. "It wasn't your fault. People blame you..." She waved to Cathi's still bruised face. She had refused treatment for the minor injuries. Cathi kept her poise from the skill of long practice. It hadn't been fun, not defending herself. It went seriously against the grain. But she had been complicit in horrible things. Not willingly, but she had done them. Just the memories hurt. "And you let them hurt you. That stops now, sister."
"Ah..." Cathi swallowed hard.
"We Tenno are hard." Alicia said quietly. "But very few of us are cruel simply to be so. You are Tenno but you predated the Collapse." Cathi nodded. "That means you do not know a lot of our recent history. I am here, with Mishka, to get you up to speed. But first. What warframe would you prefer?"
"I assumed I would have to work to gain trust first." Cathi shook her head. This was awfully fast.
"Trust must be earned." Alicia agreed. "But we don't have time for you to spend navel gazing, cleaning the floors or lubricating the few things that need it here. Things are starting to go nuts. We do not have spare personnel to watch you all the time. Either we trust you or we do not. We choose to trust." She raised a hand as Cathi started to protest. "We will not be stupid about it, but we need you, sister. We need your skill and we need your experience." She chuckled. "And I want to ask how it felt to wield a Veritux in gravity."
Considering that said sword was intended for use in the zero or microgravity environment of space and was twice Cathi's height in length...
"Exhausting." Cathi said with a small frown. That part of her memory was clear. Sun's manipulations had brought some of her memories back into focus. Others were gone from the cryo. Winning the Imperial Games three years running had been a hell of an achievement, even she admitted that with a certain amount of pride. She had been the best. Now? Maybe she had a chance to do it again. If in a different way. "As for warframe? Gersemi Valkyr."
"That we have." Alicia nodded. "We will start the tour here and end it in the barracks where you can acclimatize. " Cathi grimaced but nodded. Merging with a warframe was no joke at all. Tenno had died doing so. "But first, the required stuff. The place you came from is secret. No one outside of our clan and the Citadel is supposed to know of it. Nikis and Sun do of course and a few others. But if someone asks you where you came from..." She paused as Cathi nodded. "Yes?"
"I was renegade and captured by Interrogator Sun." Cathi said quietly. "He used me to destroy the remaining renegades. Instead of killing me, he freed me on my oath to serve as Tenno. I want to serve. It is what I am for."
"And if someone asks where you were before coming here?" Alicia continued her quiet interrogation.
"I was in a top secret special care facility." Cathi replied with a smile. "They never told me where it was." Alicia and Mishka both looked at her and Cathi's smile became a grin. "They didn't. They assumed I knew. And I can neither confirm nor deny that I knew." Mishka was covering her mouth with her hand and Alicia was shaking her head as Cathi became serious. "All that said, I can neither confirm nor deny anything about where I was. Classification issues, you understand."
"Fair enough." Alicia said with a nod. "Not that I expect anything less of a Royal Guard."
"I am not Royal Guard anymore, Tenno Alicia." Cathi fought to keep her voice level despite the gut wrenching pain that tore through her. That had been her life, her sole connection to her past. To what she had been before her corruption. Now? That was gone. "No matter what...anyone may say..." She said carefully. "...I was cast out. I will go on. I am Tenno."
"She won't be happy with that." Alicia replied just as carefully. Even here, even now, paranoia was a watchword where Avalon and the Empress were concerned. Then again, Eliza was not one to anger.
"She does not command Tenno." Cathi said softly. "She has said so repeatedly. It was an internal matter and handled as such. Maybe...someday I can restore the honor that was stolen from me. Today? I serve." Mishka gave her hand a squeeze and Cathi smiled at the young Tenno bard. "I am ready to start."
"We have and will have Guards cycling through for training." Alicia said quietly. "They will treat you as a clan member or I will want to know why. If I can't find out, then the clan leader gets involved. Don't get him involved. Clear?"
"Clear." Cathi nodded.
"This is one of three portal chambers we have in the dojo." Alicia said to begin the tour. "As far as anyone outside of our clan or special guests..." She nodded to Mishka who returned it. "... are concerned, this portal chamber is unused." Cathi nodded and the Trinity started off, the other two following, Cathi carefully did not look at Mishka's foot which was a prosthesis of some kind. Odd looking. Almost flesh? Not normal Tenno machinery.
"How are you doing, Mishka?" Cathi asked quietly when Alicia did not speak again. The bard looked at her and Cathi made a face. "It is not every day someone tries to assassinate you."
"It will happen again." Mishka said quietly. Both Cathi and Alicia looked at her and Mishka shrugged. "I don't blame him for being angry. I am too."
"Mishka, he would have killed you." Cathi protested.
"The...being who contributed DNA to my creation has angered many Tenno." Mishka shrugged again, more expressively. "I cannot blame them for being angry."
"And blaming you for his actions makes sense...how?" Cathi demanded.
"It doesn't." Mishka granted. "But my own actions..." She shook her head. "No. Not my actions. I didn't do anything but get snatched. But several things happened because of me. This clan lost a sister and a highly trained mental healer because of me." Her tone was calm, reasoned. No self pity there. Just fact.
"Serene losing it was not your fault, Mishka." Alicia said sternly from where she was walking. "The rest? You were abducted, girl! Twice. No one blames you for that! Not even the nuts."
"I know." Mishka said sadly. "Briana and Healer are working with me to get through this. It is...hard though."
"Easy is not for Tenno." Cathi gave Mishka's hand a squeeze. "How is your mom?" Mishka smiled, grateful for the change in subject.
"As busy as ever." Mishka replied. "But she is better. More relaxed. She really needed the break. So did I." The young Tenno admitted. "Things were nuts. Are nuts. But now? We can cope a bit better."
The trio walked in companionable silence as Alicia showed them a series of rooms. Each time she would state the purpose and Cathi worked hard to remember each. Stores. Armory. Range. Medical. Training. The list went on and on, but she worked diligently to place each room firmly in a mental map. Communication. Research was three rooms. She balked as Alicia gave her access to the clan's vault.
"You cannot be serious." Cathi retreated as her bio scan was taken. "You don't know me!"
"Yes, we do. Jesse and Sun sent full reports." Alicia said softly. Cathi stared at her and the medic shook her head. "You know... I have a bad temper. Always have. Likely always will. But I didn't go through what you did." A tinge of sympathy sang in her voice. Not overt, just there. "I..." She broke off, hand going to her head. "I have my own stories."
"Alicia?" Cathi asked, concerned as the bioscan cut off. "You okay?"
"I don't know." Alicia said after a moment. "I have a headache. But I shouldn't. All diagnostics are in the green." Mishka was staring at the Trinity, eyes wide. "Mishka?"
"How long have you been having them?" Mishka sounded odd. Far older than her almost seventeen years. "How bad and how long do they last?"
"Last couple of days." Alicia said with a shrug. "They don't last long and it is pain, Mishka. You know about Warriors and pain." For Tenno Warriors, pain was weakness leaving the body. Not very sane, but very warrior-like.
"We have been worried about you, Alicia." Mishka said with a frown. Cathi stared from the young Tenno bard to the Trinity and back. "What was done to you was horrific. Briana, Kori and I believe it was the Ancient Enemy's manipulations. Healer and the others concur."
Cathi stilled, she didn't understand all of this, but that title, she did know. The most ancient of Tenno adversaries was a horrible legend. Cathi did not know all of the story, just that Hayden Tenno -the First Tenno- had triumphed in someplace called Lasria against said enemy, preventing an infested apocalypse. In truth, that was all she knew. She knew that the First still existed in a manner of speaking as energy form shades. Not -quite- ghosts of folklore, but close. The database had been a source of power and danger throughout much of Orokin's existence. Eliza had simply told her 'It is handled now.' and refused to recount any details. Cathi approved. She didn't need any more secrets.
"It is over and done." Alicia said firmly. "I do keep tabs on it, Mishka. That is my job." At Cathi's puzzled look, Alicia unbent a little. "I was infected with a modified strain of the Technocyte Virus." Cathi couldn't help herself, she recoiled a step. Alicia nodded. "It was bad. But every scan, every medical professional, every everything says that I am fine. So..."
"Alicia." Mishka's voice was firm as well now too and she stood, crossing her arms. "You know better."
"I..." To Cathi's amazement, the Trinity seemed to wilt.
"Modified how?" Cathi asked softly. The others looked at her and she shook her head. "You said 'modified strain'. Modified how?"
"It was intended to control people." Alicia's voice held remembered pain and fear, but it firmed. "It worked on poor Kori, but it took them a long time to do it to her. From what we found out? Decades of trial and error." Mishka stepped to take the Trinity's arm in her hand. "Mishka... I..."
"What happened to Sister Kori was no one's fault but the Ancient Enemy's." Mishka said firmly. Cathi looked at her and Mishka bowed her head. "It rose. The Phoenix did as well." Cathi inhaled in horror and Mishka nodded. "Yeah."
Cathi remembered that. The only way that Tenno had found to stop true manifestations of the Ancient Enemy was an ancient Tenno weapon that killed the user. The Phoenix. It stopped the enemy cold, but the cost... The cost was always dear.
"Alicia." The young Tenno bard was shaking her head now. "You feel wrong. You need to go see Healer."
"I need to finish the tour." Alicia protested. "Get Cathi a ship and warframe."
"Alicia." Where had Mishka suddenly gotten this aura of command from? "Now. I will do the tour. I know the dojo. Mitchell and Miguel were working on the landing craft expansions. I will get them to help with the ship."
"Yes, Ma'am." To Cathi's amazement, Alicia gave Mishka a bow and left! Cathi stared after her and then at Mishka who made a face.
"She is not supposed to do that." Mishka complained. "We do not stand on formality and we try not to step on tradition. We have enough problems without infuriating the ultra-traditionalists."
"Tradition has it's place." Cathi said slowly. "It is important, but it should not be the only important thing." Mishka smiled at her and relaxed a little. "No offense intended Mishka, but... Tenno Alicia is the clan medic. How can you order her to go see a Healer?"
"Not a healer." Mishka corrected the older Tenno quietly. "Healer. You will meet her in time." She frowned a little but then her face cleared. "And the reason Alicia took my order?" She paused. "What do you know of the Caretakers?"
"The-" Cathi stiffened. "The Empress said I was to obey their orders. Tenno Jasmina and Tenno Elenia are to be obeyed in all things."
"That is not what I asked." Mishka said with a groan. "Geez. They are not going to be happy about that. What do you remember about the Caretakers?" Cathi stared at her, but the girl seemed firm. "It is important. Very important."
"The Caretakers..." Cathi said delicately. "...maintained the quarantine. Infestation cannot be stopped, merely slowed. Quarantine was mandated for anyone who might be infected. If they were proven to be..." She swallowed as Mishka looked sad. "Mishka, it was a kindness."
"Yes, it was." Mishka said sadly. "The Technocyte Virus is a horror beyond belief. To those of us who can feel it..." She shook her head. "Even Tenno have no idea the sheer pain that is involved. The feelings..." She swallowed hard.
"You can feel it?" Cathi felt horror start to dawn. If Mishka could feel it, then she had been exposed!
"I am not infected, Cathi." Mishka said softly. "I am a Caretaker."
"There are only two." Cathi said firmly. "Jasmina and Elenia."
"There were only two." Mishka said quietly. "To save my life, they had to do some rather creative juggling of bioscience and politics. In order to repay the debt I incurred, I took the oath." She grinned, suddenly looked far younger. "They were not happy with me. Neither were the others. But I did as my honor and heart commanded. I am needed. They need me. So I serve."
"And your mother is okay with this?" Cathi demanded, and then moderated her tone. "Sorry."
"No." Mishka waved the apology away. "She wanted to do the same, to stay with me. To help them. But the Tenno need her. They didn't need me."
"I don't see that." Cathi said after a moment's thought. Mishka looked at her and Cathi shook her head. "You are young,. You have your life ahead of you, Mishka. You had time to choose. Why choose this? To maintain a quarantine is a horrible job."
"They didn't tell you the rest, did they?" Mishka asked, an odd bubble of amusement surfacing.
"Rest?" Cathi asked suspiciously.
"This is going to be a shock no matter how well we prepare you." Mishka said softly. "So, Tenno... we need to explain and it will be a shock. How should we do it?"
"You are asking me?" Cathi asked slowly.
"You know your own mind." Mishka replied. "Right?"
"Ah..." Cathi groaned. "Yes. Sun was thorough and I know my own strengths and weaknesses. So... Hit me with it."
Instead of answering, Mishka took her hand and led her back down the hallway. But... then they went to an elevator marked 'Out of Order'. It opened and Cathi stiffened, but the platform was there. Mishka hit the controls and it started down.
"You are in no danger, Cathi." Mishka said quietly. "We scan thoroughly and sweep with every sense we have, including touch."
"Whatever you are preparing me for..." Cathi's words choked off as the door opened... to horror. She took one look at the Infested flora that covered the walls, the Infested masses that sat and stood watching her... and bolted.
"Don't hurt her!" She thought she heard Mishka scream as she fled, but she was gone.